Optional Blog: Digital Curation

Omar Saeed

Optional Blog: Digital Curation

I focused it on iPad and gaming in education. I picked many articles about technology in education but few were on iPads and gaming in school. There is an article that I scooped; it was on Minecraft in schools.  Minecraft uses thinking and creativity. It’s now really famous in schools. Minecraft is a game where you build stuff like houses. I scooped this article about Mine Craft that Quoted “according to Swedish news sources, the Viktor Rydberg school in Stockholm has put Minecraft on the curriculum for its 13-year-old students. They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future, Viktor Rydberg teacher Monica Ekman told English-language The Local. "It's not any different from arts or woodcraft," she added”. I also focused on iPads. How iPads can be educational. Also some schools still do not own iPads so how they can see the benefits of iPads so they can allow iPads in their school. Also I am going to be talking about some great apps that can make a teachers life easy. There is an app called iBrainstorm and it’s free to download. For example if a group is working on brainstorming something, one of them can use the iPad and the others can join using the iPad or their iPhone. Baiboard HD is another app, and it’s used as a black board, where you can type stuff and other iPads can connect to it. Also you can send the URL to students too. All schools should have iPads because students find them interesting to use it, and also they have great educational apps. I was amazed by how much information I found and also how much more I learned about using technology in schools as education. There is a lot of digital curation in education. iPads are really good for education because they have good apps for students to use. For example scramble word is a great game for thinking, and also vocabulary. Teachers can use this to teach the students better vocabulary. Most of the time students get bored of doing textbook work, so using an iPad for teaching is a great idea. Above is my reflection on Digital Curation.  

Reflection: Project Management

Omar Saeed

November 26 2012

Reflection: Project Management

As a Manager:

I can use these tips a lot in the future projects because I learned a great deal from reading those ten helpful tips. First of all, as a manager I will do my best to assign people to whatever they are good at instead of just assigning them random parts. Also it is really important that I am aware of the part of the assignment they are passionate about. For example if I give them a part that they are not interested in, t they will most likely not put enough effort to complete it. Moreover I will encourage them to be more independent and ask them “What do you think?”. Therefore they will be forced to think themselves. If I solve their problems every time then they will never learn and they will always hesitate to think or put in some effort into the work.  As a manager if the group members ever do something wrong, I will not blame them for it because then they will not be willing to work with me ever again. I will do my best to correct their mistakes or tell them nicely what to improve on their next project. 

 

As a Member:

As a member I will listen to my manager all the time and do as they say. My manager will do his/her best to give me the best part that I’m good at and even if I do not like the job I will put in effort to finish it. If I have questions regarding my project I will try to think of the answer myself instead of asking the manager for answers. Because when I was reading the tips the person said to managers that they should never give the answers to the members, so the members can start thinking. Also if I ever do something wrong and the manager gets mad, I should not argue with him and fix my mistake so he can be happy with having me in his group.  At the end of the day, as a member I will make some progress done so when my manager asks me what did I do today, I will not be stuck or say I did not do anything today. If I try something new I will always an answer to why I did it this way.   

 

 

Omar Saeed

Augmented Reality

From my point of view Augmented Reality should be used as education. If teachers use Augmented Reality in classes then students will be more delighted to participate in class. Augmented reality can be used for every subject. There’s a University in Denmark that is teaching students about human Anatomy using the Kinect. When you stand in front of it it shows the skeleton structure of the body. I believe that a lot of universities/Colleges and also high school’s should adapt to this kind of teaching environment where the students will be more excited about the subject. Also doing text book work gets boring and students lose lack of interest in class, and they will not be paying attention in class and might end up with a bad mark.  There’s an app called Start Gazer and when you point it at night as the sky it will tell you about the stars and different planets. I believe that they should use this in grade 9 science classes because when I was in grade 9 and learned about planets, I did not really enjoy it.

 

 http://prezi.com/zzpvrwqk1bns/augmented-reality/

Augmented Reality notes

Omar Saeed

Augmented reality

What is Augmented Reality:

• Augmented reality is a simulated reality that imitates the world’s environment in a computer
• Augmented reality blurs the line between what is real and what is computer generated by enhancing what we feel, see, hear and smell
• Video games are entertaining us for nearly 30 years ever since pong was introduced
• Graphics advanced so much now that it is hard to tell the difference between a game or real life
• Augmented reality adds sounds, graphic, feedback to both video games and cell phones
• The goal of Augmented reality is to create a system in which the user cannot tell the difference between real world and the virtual augmentation of it
• Today Augmented reality is used in in entertainment, military training, engineering design, robotics, manufacturing and other industries
• Augmentation is mostly in real time and it keeps track of stuff such as sports scores on TV during a match
• Kinect fusion uses realistic movements, the projector can sense what’s going on in the room
• It bumps into objects such as tables or walls

Exploring some of the potentials of the technology for education:

·         iOS and Android have played a big role in augmented reality

·         Brett E. Shelton “I still remember my experience with a big dinosaur, it did not look friendly but it was a virtual dinosaur and existed as a 3D object”.

·         Augmented reality as science and practice has been receiving more attention recently due to augmented reality

·         Developers call augmented reality a tool that allows a person to view one or more virtual 3D objects in the real world environment

·         Everyone from game designers to healthcare companies to estate agents are using augmented reality

·          One of the examples of augmented reality apps for smartphones are that it could tell a user where the nearest metro or Wal-Mart is located they just point the phone on the street that there in

·         Another app from the museum of London, will overlay the on the phones street view  an image of what it looked like hundred years ago

·         There’s also an app called “Stargazer”, and in night when you point your phone at sky, it will tell you the facts about the stars and different planets

Examining the drawbacks or potential issues surrounding the use of the technology for education:

·         People should not depend on augmented reality

·         If you think cell phones are a distraction then think of augmented windshield feeding you driving directions, along with more date about your surroundings that you might need

·         Imagine crossing a busy street in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, while using augmented reality to check out great restaurants

 

 

 

 

Bonsor, Kevin. "How Augmented Reality Really Works." How stuff works. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm>.

 

 Shelton, Brett E. "Augmented Reality and Education." Utah State University. N.p., 2002. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/96/>.

 

Skeldon, Paul. "Even better than the real thing." The Wall Street Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704739504576067780550250202.html>.

 

Minecraft and Team Building

Omar Saeed

Minecraft and Team Building

Working with Minecraft was a little difficult at beginning but after it got easy. What my group and I did was we made a big house. It took us about 2 to 3 class periods and we had fun building it. Minecraft can be used as a team building tool for many reasons. For example Jason and I got the equipment’s needed to build the house. Mason, Bernedette and Ernest were building the house. Minecraft also improves students communication skills too because they all have to communicate about the task. We were able to achieve our goals. The house looked very good. A lot of things can be improved, for example we could build up a bigger house next time with a really good design. I also think that there should be a leader in the team who can guide every team member what to do, because some people do not have enough experience playing Minecraft. The person that has the most experience in Minecraft should guide every member of the team on what to do. The grade 2’s also had similar task, they also had to build up a house. The only difference was that they were given an amount of equipment’s but we were given unlimited. Jason and I also had to kill chicken and cows for their meat so none of our teammate dies from hunger. I believe that we worked better than grade 2’s because we had good communication with each other and also we build a really good house. Some of us were inexperienced with Minecraft but we got helped from our group members.  By playing this game I believe that people will also not be shy to talk, because they have no other choice but to communicate if they need something. This game will also improve the student’s communication skills in many different ways. What my group and I have to improve is that we should make the design of the house first then build it. Minecraft also makes people think in many ways. Above is my reflection on how Minecraft can be used as a team building tool.

FIFA 12 in Class

OMAR SAEED

FIFA12 in Class
LEARNING GOALS:

By the end of this lesson, my students will be able to make better decisions on their own. They will also learn a tremendous amount regarding business. They will learn how to make better choices in life when they start their own business and also the process to hire employees.

CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS:

The overall and specific expectations that this lesson will address are how to make profit and better choices. In FIFA 12, there is a mode called manager mode which describes when you have a team and that team is 0.5 stars. The pay depends on the position that a player has. Once you have earned enough money you can slowly build up your team by buying better players, such as Ronaldo or Messi thus making your team a 5 star team.

MINDS ON / HOOK:

How will you grab the student’s attention and get them focused (in the right mindset) to learn the material you will be addressing in this lesson? FIFA12 is one of the most well-known sports games and majority of people love to play it. Moreover it received an award for being the most popular sports game and also stated that FIFA makes a lot people smart. The students will play 1 season and simulate the matches for 2 seasons and see how much star their team gets after 3 seasons. The goal is over 1.5 star. the student will have to write a 1 page reflection on what did they learn from this activity. Time Required:1 period

ACTION:

What will you get the students to do? (The activity?). I will get the students to play the manager mode in class instead of them doing paperwork. They will play 1 season and simulate the other 2. at the end their goal is to make their team reach 1.5 star and higher. FIFA12 manager mode best fits business because in this mode you can buy and sell players. They will start from a low team and   they have to build up their team. In real business you also start from a low position andyou slowly build it up.. Time Required:1 period

CONSOLIDATION:

How will you get the students to think about their learning? How will you assess if you have met the expectations and goals of the lesson? In FIFA 12, after each win, you can buy a player. Players like Ronaldo are very expensive so you have to win few matches to be able to afford them. But slowly you build up your team. By playing this, the students will think about their learning because if they open their own business, they can make good choices on who to hire and how much to pay them. in Fifa 12 they will earn money for each time they win, also before playing they will have $500. They will think about their learning because they have to use their money wisely. After 3 seasons if their team is 1.5 star or more then they passed the activity. At the end they have to write a 1 page reflection on what part of this activity did they struggle, what did they learn from this activity and lastly what part of of it did they like the most? Time Required:1 period

classroom innovation

Omar Saeed

Classroom Innovation

Initially in my computer class, we used the program Scratch instead of Python which was the original program. Python is a real coding program which is used by various colleges and universities in their Computer Science programs and classes.  My Computer Science instructor made the class extremely simple and easy with this simple technique. However there are many teachers who will move straight to the actual program regardless of whether the program is tough or not. I bilieve that all computer science teachers in thomson should teach scratch first instead of jumping straight to python.  We practised using Scratch for three entire weeks . In short, on the left side there were words in a box and a user is required to pick up words and drag to the right side. There was a “cat” that would follow all the movements. Overall, it was a really entertaining game program and made me comfortable with programming and somewhat ready for the real program, because the real program is really hard. Also students found Scratch fun to use and they learned a lot. We also had to create a game and i chose to make Brick Breaker. There was never a moment of being bored while working with Scratch, because not only was the program itself easy but the assignments were also simple and creative. Also we learned many stuff at the same time.  In addition to the basic features, we were also taught some basic controlling features of Scratch. For instance, we learned how the letters on the keyboard would affect the software. Every Computer science class in thomson should be taught scratch first because thats the best way to get them ready to use Python, because the words are at the side, all you do is drag the words over. In Conclusion, I believe that every teacher should maintain a fun environment in the classroom to teach their class in a pleasurable manner where the students do not get bored. If the students get bored in the class then they will lose interest in learning that subject.